Children of Fate
by arithnocrat
Summary: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley have completed the task Fate gave them, and are just looking for a chance to relax with each other. Fate, on the other hand has other plans. The shinobi world has no idea what it's up against.
1. A Battle and A Massacre

A/N: Ack! I have been bitten by a plot bunny! I suppose it's a coincidence that this happened on Naruto's birthday? Happy late birthday, Naru-chan!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

* * *

"So, Potter, it's come to this, has it? Just you and your pathetic sidekicks against me, the all-powerful Lord Voldemort! You three are all that's left of the glorious Light side!"

Harsh, cruel laughter echoed throughout the battlefield. The ground was charred and broken, tortured bodies of Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix lying all around them. Only four people remained standing. One was a short, wiry man with messy black hair and bright green eyes. Blood and dirt coated his tattered robes and matted down his hair. His ridiculous healing capacity ensured that little to no scars littered his body. His face, unmarred save for one scar on his forehead, was hard and gaunt, making him look like he was in his forties, instead of having turned twenty just that day.

Beside him stood his two best friends. On his right was a tall, muscular man with bright red hair. Or, it would have been, if it weren't singed, bloody, and grimy. His crystal blue eyes were cold and hard. Three diagonal slashes ran across the left side of his face – cheekbone to ear, across the nose, and from just beside his nose to his jaw.

On the raven's left side was a woman with a thick brown braid. She was well built, though her oversized robes (courtesy of the redhead) did her little justice. An ugly burn crept up the side of her neck, still in process of healing. Her eyes were haunted, her expression stern, making her out to be far older than she was.

They had lost their wands long ago, relying now on runes and weapons and wandless magic. They each had their strengths, the raven with his magic, the brunette with her runes, and the redhead with his weapons. In the last legs of the war – for they knew their end was near – they were all each other had against the monster before them.

"It's over, Tom. This will be your last battle. You're more wounded than we are. Your reign over terror ends today," the raven spoke.

Voldemort snarled, his alabaster features twisting grotesquely. He prepared to throw another curse. It was the Darkest of Dark Magic, the destruction of life, the eradication of existence, infinitely more potent (and more power-consuming, but he paid no mind to that) than the Killing Curse. It was a last resort. As the wave of Dark Magic raced toward them, the redhead and the brunette linked arms with the raven, who had a ball of energy in his hands. The brunette murmured and runes swirled over their bodies.

"It's been great knowing you."

"Absolutely, friends until the end."

"We were together when this began, we'll be together when this ends, mate."

The ball of energy grew in size and two more colors swirled inside it. The raven released it. Black collided with white, gold, and silver. Their magic, fueled by love and friendship so deep, the monster against them could never hope to understand it, destroyed Voldemort's spell. Magic lashed out everywhere, destroying everything it touched. When the chaos ended, all was still. At one of the battlefield lay the withered and decrepit corpse of the Dark Lord Voldemort, the Dark rituals he had used nullified by the positive energy. At the other end of the battlefield lay three warriors, three best friends, so peaceful they could have been asleep, if not for their wounds.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley passed on to the next great adventure. After five, long, grueling years, the Second War Against Voldemort was finally over. They could finally rest in peace.

Too bad Fate's a bitch.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke strolled down the street leisurely. He had his fangirls the slip. Itachi often laughed at him, even if his own fan club was just as large. He entered the Uchiha compound, and a wave of anxiety washed over him. It was really quiet, not even the rambunctious Hikari was running around with her cats. It was far too quiet for a clan of about 300 people. The shops were deserted… It was too early for everyone to be sleeping, right?

"Kaa-san? Otou-sama? I'm home!"

There was no answering call of "How was your day, Sasuke-kun?"

Something was very wrong. The house was cold and empty. There was no sound of the stove from the kitchen, no patter of the feet of his cousins as the asked his mother for some of the delicious monaka. There was sound of metal hitting metal, or of flesh hitting wood, as the older Uchihas practiced in the adjacent training fields.

They weren't… no, he wouldn't think that. He wouldn't allow himself to dwell on the scent of _death_ assaulting his nostrils. He wouldn't allow himself… but how could he not, with his family lying on the streets, kunai sticking out of their backs, Auntie Shizu dead at his feet… NO! This had to be an illusion!

Panic began setting in. Sasuke ran, throwing open the door to the council's room. No one was there. It was as if no one had ever been there. The dread increased tenfold as he turned to the door to his parents' room. They were behind there, they had to be. Otou-sama would be helping Kaa-san put on a necklace as the got ready for some festival or function that he had forgotten about.

There was a thud within. His mother had just dropped something, she was clumsy like that. He would go in and she would comfort him, and have his father yell at Shinji for messing around with the genjutsu scrolls.

He threw open the door.

_KAA-SAN! OTOU-SAMA! Oh Kami, no! Let this be a genjutsu! Please, please, let this be a genjutsu! Please don't let them… have… have…_

The figure standing above the dead bodies of his parents stepped into the light.

"Nii-san… Who… who killed…"

A shuriken flew past and nicked his shoulder.

_No. NO! Itachi-nii WOULDN'T!_

"Nii-san, what are you – no, _why_?!"

"To test myself."

Sasuke was in shock. To test himself? _TO TEST HIMSELF?_

"To test yourself? You bastard! That's the reason you killed Kaa-san and Otou-sama and Auntie Shizu and baby Mika? Stop screwing around!"

"Foolish otouto."

Itachi shifted his katana.

"Don't kill me!"

The plea was spoken before Sasuke could help himself. Itachi's normally emotionless face twisted into a light sneer. His Sharingan began to spin and he replied, "You're too pathetic to kill. Cling to life, foolish child. Run away like a coward and cling to life. Hate me, detest me, and perhaps then you be worth my time."

The Uchiha prodigy whispered so Sasuke wouldn't hear, "Tsukuyomi."

Reality twisted and Sasuke stood frozen in place as Itachi murdered his family before him.

"Yamate… Nii-san! Don't show me this! Nii-san!"

Sasuke clutched his head and tried to block out the vision. Reality twitched again.

He was in someone's living room. There was a fire crackling in the hearth. A man with scruffy black hair and a woman with long red hair were playing with a black-haired child.

There was an explosion from outside the door. Horror, followed by determination, crossed the black-haired man's features.

"It's him! Lily, go! I'll hold him off! Take Harry and run!"

"James, no-"

The door exploded inward. A hooded figure stood at the threshold of the house.

"Expelliarmus!" James shouted.

"Pathetic, Potter," the figure hissed, "Avada Kedavra!"

James hit the wall, and crumpled to the ground dead, his eyes glassy.

The figure continued upstairs to the nursery.

"Not my son, please, not Harry!"

"Stand aside, foolish girl."

Lily continued to plead, "Not Harry, please, not Harry! Take me instead!"

"Stand aside!"

"No! I won't let you touch my son, Voldemort!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Lily joined James in death and Voldemort turned to the baby. Harry glared back defiantly.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The light hit Harry and rebounded, tearing Voldemort from his body, and giving Harry a lightening bolt scar. The babe began to cry.

* * *

Itachi looked at his catatonic brother. He shunshined away. It would almost six hours before the ANBU sounded the alarm and Sasuke was given medical attention.

* * *

A/N: So how bad was it? Yeah, I messed around a little with the massacre scene, but with good reason. Fudge brownies for a review!


	2. Remember Who You Are

A/N: And here's chapter 2! I hope Sasuke doesn't seem too OOC.

A warm fudge brownie to .Xx.PuppetOnStrings.xX.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke lay unconscious for six days. It came to a point that the Sandaime called in Yamanaka Inoichi to try and rouse the young Uchiha. The blond Torture and Interrogation specialist placed his hand on the Uchiha's forehead.

* * *

He floated in the darkness, watching his memories fly past. He watched Sirius die for the thousandth (it was probably more than that) time. He watched Bellatrix Lestrange torture Luna Lovegood into insanity and get beheaded by Neville's uncontrolled magic. He remembered Neville's furious visage calm as twin Killing Curses raced toward them. The self-driven explosion of Neville's magical core destroyed everything within a half-mile radius.

He remembered himself fighting against the Inner Circle as Privet Drive crumbled around him. Vernon Dursley had sold him to Lucius Malfoy and received a Killing Curse for his efforts. Aunt Petunia screamed as Avery's Cruciatus Curse hit her. Her last words were spent begging Harry for forgiveness, even as she watched her nephew, the brave, foolish boy, casting spells and defending her and her son.

He remembered studying the Dark Arts over the summer after Sirius' death and taking his first life. Ron and Hermione stood by his side as he spent the next fifteen minutes vomiting and sobbing. He swore then that he would never _ever_ use power born of malice, no matter how many battles he won. The price was too high.

He remembered Ron taking a Bone-Shattering Hex so that he and Hermione would have time to destroy the Hufflepuff Cup-Horcrux. And he and Ron standing guard, fighting off the werevolves so that Hermione could get her runic scrolls, even when their bodies looked like they had been through a cheese grater.

He remembered his disastrous first date with Cho, and the Valentine's Day Massacre at Kent. Ginny had fallen then, her red hair against red paper hearts, on a ground overflowing with red, red blood. The Death Eaters had limited themselves to spells that emitted shades of red light that day.

He watched himself stop Remus and Sirius from killing Pettigrew, and wondered what would have happened if he hadn't interfered. Would Cedric be alive? Would Voldemort have risen to power yet again? Would the War have raged?

He watched himself dodge Neville's exploding cauldron, careful to avoid the botched cure for boils. He remembered Neville and the Weasley twins dousing twenty Death Eaters in a highly concentrated version of the mix, giving the children in the orphanage they were protecting time to escape.

He remembered his broom, flying through the skies searching for the Golden Snitch. He saw himself nearly swallow the winged ball; he saw his arm lose its bones. He saw dementors converging around him. He watched himself fly away from Privet Drive. He remembered forgetting freedom and only knowing fear.

Faster and faster, his mind convalesced. He was now standing in the midst of a vast forest. Beyond his sight, he knew there was a 365-meter high concrete wall keeping out intruders. The forest wasn't quite what it had been before. It resembled the forest outside Konoha more. Hidden strategically (to his reckoning) in every tree were his memories, categorized by every emotion save love. At the center of the forest was a shrine, filled memories of love, friendship, and happiness that fueled his core. Now, he saw there were scattered traps and shuriken in the trees.

There was a patch of charred ground. There actually several similar scattered throughout the forest, but they all had shoots slowly creeping up through them. This one was still warm from the fire. At its center lay an innocuous paper fan.

"_To test myself."_

"_Aniki, will you train with me?"_

"_Not today, Sasuke."_

"_Why can't you be as good as Itachi? When he was your age…"_

_Why did Itachi feel the need to kill the clan?_

It just… didn't make any sense. The Itachi he knew was a little aloof, but very kind. He spent hours praying after every kill. He hated taking another person's life, stranger at that. Why then would kill his entire family?

"_The Uchiha Clan is the strongest in the village."_

Had the pressure gotten to be too much? If so, why had no one seen the signs? God dammit, _WHY_? Staring at the blackened earth, he knew that he would _never_ be able to forgive his brother until he knew the real reason the clan was annihilated. Maybe not even after that, if he still saw baby Mika's happy gurgle silenced by a blade.

Someone was trying to enter his mind. No one practiced Legilimency in Konoha, so who – oh. The Yamanaka Clan. Who was it that his father (Fugaku, not James) had met with just the other day? Yamanaka Inoichi. The presence withdrew.

* * *

Inoichi turned to the Hokage.

"Whatever jutsu that was used on him is blocking me out. All I saw was a concrete wall."

"G… gomen ne, Yamanaka-san," came Sasuke's weak voice, "I was… frightened."

The older men turned in shock to the young boy.

"You felt me enter?"

"Hai. I thought… I thought it was Itachi again."

"Itachi? Why would you think it was him?"

"He… he killed them… all of them. Hikari, Mika, Auntie Shizu, Kaa-san, Otou-sama, Shinji…"

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. He could almost hear Hermione's voice in his ear, telling him to let go, telling him not to bottle up his emotions. Ron would come to his defense, waving Hermione off, saying that he needed space.

Ron… Hermione… They weren't here.

After everything they had been through, he was alone.

Of course. Nothing more for Fate's favorite whipping boy. After five years of a grueling war against the monster called Voldemort to protect his friends and his loved ones, he was alone. His heart tore within him, more pain than he ever thought he'd feel. He lashed out in the only way he could.

"I'll kill him. Reason be damned, _I'll kill him_."

"Sasuke-"

Sasuke glared up at the Hokage with the pain of two lifetimes.

"He took everything away from me."

"Do not let revenge rule your life, Sasuke-kun."

"_I swear on my blood and my magic I will never use any power born of hatred or vengeance upon another human being. So mote it be."_

He clenched his eyes shut. Damn it! Why couldn't he give up for once, and give in to the darkness. Why did he always have to be the one to do the right thing?

"Why the hell not?"

Inoichi raised an eyebrow at the disrespectful tone, but one didn't have to be shinobi to understand what was going on the traumatized seven-year-old's mind.

If he only knew.

"You are a shinobi of Konoha, Sasuke-kun. You are a part of a larger community, and everyone here is a part of you. The bonds you create will give you a power that Itachi could not have anticipated."

Sasuke clenched his eyes shut, but one tear escaped anyway. The Sandaime gave a soft, sad smile, glad that the boy's humanity had been preserved, but disheartened at the horror he had been forced to witness.

"_The power he knows not – love. The love and friendship we share is what is going to win this war. Voldemort cannot understand that we would lay down our lives for others, and in doing so strengthen our own magic and place a protection over them. Think of your family, of your loved ones. Dead or alive, they are who you're fighting for. They will be with you as we fight to victory!"_

* * *

A/N: So what's the verdict? Most of the italics are flashbacks, unless they're in the middle of a sentence. Then they're emphasis. Fudge brownies for a review!


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